


Scars We Carry

by avatar_dragon_rider



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang Needs a Hug, Aang is kind of a dick in chapter 3, Angst is my thing, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Katara is kinda stupid in chapter 2, Katara is such a mom, Light Angst, No Plot/Plotless, Panic Attacks, Sorry Not Sorry, and i just HAD to make it worse, chapter 1 is during s2ep20, chapter 2 is during s3ep1, chapter 3 is between s3 eps 11 & 12, everyone is kinda OOC at some point here, he's been through enough as it is, not really a shippy fic but can be seen that way if you want to, please forgive me Aang, this is literally me dumping my headcanons into the Avatar fandom, who am i kidding there's so much angst, why am i so mean to this poor child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 16:51:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11741199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatar_dragon_rider/pseuds/avatar_dragon_rider
Summary: "It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone." ~ Rose Kennedy





	1. Physical

**Author's Note:**

> This is the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written (besides that one fic for Elena of Avalor that I still need to finish). But I also think it's one of the best things that has ever come out of my keyboard so here ya go

Sokka paced nervously in front of the hole Toph had made hours earlier, the hole that had allowed Aang and Iroh access to the Crystal Caverns of Old Ba Sing Se. The hole that Sokka was seconds away from dashing down.

“Would you relax?” Toph snapped from where she sat on Appa’s paw, Momo picking at his armpit beside her. She pulled her bare feet up so they were no longer resting on the stone ground. “I’m already blind, I don’t wanna go deaf because of your pounding feet.”

“They should have come back up by now…” Sokka muttered, like he hadn’t even heard a word Toph said. He stopped pacing and looked at her. “Where are they? Can you feel them?”

She shook her head, placing one foot on the ground again. “They’re too far down to make out anything specific. I can sense the crystals and the city, and some sort of battle going on. The ground keeps shaking. But I can’t―” She suddenly gasped and pulled her foot back up, rubbing her toes. She looked as if she’d just received an electric shock.

“What is it?” Sokka practically teleported to her side. “What happened?”

Toph’s eyes were saucers. “Azula…she can’t bend _lightning,_ can she?”

Sokka nodded, looking confused. “She can. Toph, what are you―”

“Oh no.” The Earthbender slid off Appa’s paw, squatting on the ground so both her hands and feet were on the ground. “No no no!”

“Toph! What is going on?!”

“The canal!” Toph shouted, startling King Kuei and Bosco out of their makeshift game of Pai Sho. “They’re coming up the canal!” She raced off toward the small river that surrounded the palace, using Earthbending to enhance her steps so she could reach the canal faster. Sokka, confused though he was, ushered the king and Bosco onto Appa’s back and raced after Toph, the sky bison lumbering behind him.

***

The canal that surrounded the palace dropped off into the ground, forming the waterfall that fed the pool in the Crystal Catacombs. It was that waterfall that Katara was following to the surface, water spiraling around her and shooting her up to the surface. She remembered when she saw Aang perform this very same maneuver while in the Avatar State, months ago when they had come to rescue him from Zuko’s ship.

Back then, she’d thought running from Zuko was the scariest thing in the world. Now, after watching Aang fall a hundred feet into her arms and holding his limp body in her lap, she’d give anything to go back to those simpler times.

They were getting close to the top. Katara could see the faint sparkle of stars above her head, getting bigger the closer she got. Had they really been gone that long? It occurred to her that the opening to the canal waterfall might be too small for both her and Aang to fit through. No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than the hole was suddenly blasted open, tiny pebbles raining on her face. She adjusted Aang so his head was tucked against her shoulder, protecting his closed eyes. 

On the surface, Toph had opened the hole, sensing Katara’s geyser approaching. Sokka ran up to her, peering down the now-huge hole while Appa galumphed behind him, growling impatiently with a confuzzled Kuei and Bosco perched on his back. Katara shot out of the hole, water spraying everywhere, and landed on her feet by the edge of the canal. Instantly, the geyser dropped away with a roaring _whoosh._

“Katara!” Sokka’s relief faded into terror when he saw Aang’s body, burned and broken against Katara’s side. The arm she had wrapped around him trembled with the effort of keeping him upright. Normally, he barely seemed to weigh a thing, but now he seemed so heavy that Katara was afraid he’d cause her to fall back down the hole and into the Fire Nation’s clutches.

“We have to go,” Katara said softly, quieting Sokka’s questions before they even left his mouth. “Azula and the Dai Li could be right on our tail. We need to get Aang out of here and get somewhere safe.”

Sokka was still burning with questions, but he nodded anyway. He held his arms out for Aang, but Katara took a step back and held him closer. Her arms felt like they could give out any second, but there was no way she was letting him go. She bent down and scooped her arm under his knees, carrying him bridal style to relieve her aching shoulder of the pressure of his dead weight.

Sokka climbed up Appa’s side and sat beside King Kuei on the bison’s back. With a boost from Toph, Katara got Aang safely onto Appa’s head. Sokka grabbed Toph’s hand, pulling her over, and Appa leapt into the air.

***

Appa flew over the flickering lights of the once great Ba Sing Se, carrying a defeated Team Avatar plus a dethroned king and his pet bear. Katara sat at Appa’s head with Aang’s lifeless body clutched against her, with Sokka and the former Earth King looking down at them. Toph stared blankly at Appa’s back with her sightless eyes.

Sokka watched as Katara pulled out her spirit water; it swirled above her hand in a doughnut shape before absorbing into the ugly mark on Aang’s back. For a long moment, it seemed like it hadn’t worked. Katara dropped her head against Aang’s back with a soft whimper. But then his arrows flashed, Katara gasped, and then they were hugging. Or rather, Katara was hugging a barely-conscious Aang.

Katara gently lay back against Appa’s hump, Aang leaning against her. His eyes were closed, his expression slightly pained. He wasn’t awake, but he wasn’t unconscious either. Not yet, at least.

“The Earth Kingdom,” Kuei lamented, “has fallen.”

Katara and Sokka both looked down at Aang. No doubt they were thinking the same about Aang: _The Avatar has fallen. Our friend has fallen._

It’s Sokka who finally said something as the sun began to peek over the horizon, after almost twenty minutes of flying in silence only broken by Bosco’s rumbling snores or Aang’s soft moans.

“We should go to Chameleon Bay,” he said. “Dad’s there. He can protect us while we figure out what to do next.”

“We can’t.” Katara shook her head. “We’ll go to the North Pole. I need more spirit water for Aang.”

“Katara, Aang won’t make it that far.” Sokka’s voice is gentle but stern, the tone he adopts when trying to be a leader and a brother at the same time. “We don’t even have the supplies to get up there―or the money to buy supplies. None of us would make it. Our best bet is Chameleon Bay with Dad. They’ll have fresh water there you can use for Aang.”

Katara sighed, her eyes falling again to Aang. “But it’ll scar…” She knew how Aang would feel about that. A constant reminder of what he’ll brand as a failure. A break in the path of his arrow, the symbol of his Airbending mastery, the symbol of his people. If the spirit water could bring him back, the whole oasis could definitely erase the scar.

“I know. But we need to think bigger. Dad can help us, sis. We need him. _Aang_ needs him.”

“Sokka’s right,” Toph spoke up. It was the first thing she’d said since Katara came out of the canal with Aang’s body. “Twinkletoes is bad. Real bad. He needs to be somewhere you can heal him, or we’ll definitely lose him.”

A long pause. Then, finally… “Alright. We’ll go to Dad.”

That seemed to placate Sokka, and as the rising sun bathed the land in light, he spoke to the former Earth King about the glory of the Water Tribe navy. Toph curled up with Bosco and clung to him; she seemed to want to fall asleep, but didn’t want to fall off the saddleless bison.

As for Aang, he still seemed to be stuck between awake and unconscious. He kept shifting beside her, moaning or mumbling occasionally. The whole time, his eyes remained closed. Katara would have given anything to see his gray eyes looking up at her again, but she didn’t think she’d be able to handle the pain they’d surely hold. She gently took his hand, lacing her fingers with his to try to calm him, try to quiet his near-incoherent mumbles of “Katara” and “it hurts” with soft words of comfort. She hated seeing him like this. It wasn’t Aang. Aang was bubbly and fun, zooming around on his air scooter and cracking innocent jokes and playing with Momo and blushing whenever she kissed his cheek, and occasionally taking out a Fire Navy fleet or two to save the world. 

Katara could only imagine how long she’d have to wait to see that Aang― _her_ Aang―again.

***

Sokka nearly freaked out when they didn’t see the Water Tribe ships in the bay. He’d needed to take a minute to calm down; the last thing they needed was for him to freak out while the Earth King was clueless, Toph was asleep, Aang was hurt, and Katara’s sole focus was the Avatar’s health. Someone had to keep a level head.

They kept flying until they met up with Hakoda’s small fleet. Appa landed on the deck of the lead ship; the men scattered before they were flattened. Bato and Hakoda came running up the stairs to see what the ruckus was about, and both froze in their tracks when they saw the sky bison on deck and the odd group trying to dismount. Sokka helped the Earth King and Bosco down the ramp made by Appa’s tail. Toph clung to Sokka’s arm for balance, then stayed close to Appa’s leg to keep from falling over. Boats were about as comfortable for her as flying.

“Dad!” The second Toph released him to cling to Appa’s fur, Sokka ran to his father. “Thank goodness! When you weren’t at Chameleon Bay, I was worried you’d been captured.”

“Captured?” Hakoda raised an eyebrow. “Of course we weren’t captured. Why would you think that?”

“Sokka?” Bato’s eyes traveled over the boy and to the bejeweled man and his pet bear. “That wouldn’t be the Earth King, would it?”

Sokka followed Bato’s gaze to where Kuei was currently running his fingers through Appa’s fur, oblivious to the Water Tribe men staring at him in fascination and confusion. He sighed. “Yeah, that’s him.” His eyes caught movement on Appa’s head: Katara struggling to get Aang down from Appa. “I’ll tell you about it in a sec.” Without another word, he jogged over to Appa and climbed up to the bison’s horn, wrapping one arm around it while the other held Aang so Katara could climb down. With Katara hissing “Careful!” about every five seconds, Sokka gently lowered Aang into her arms…until he lost his grip on Appa and fell with a yelp to the deck. Katara managed to catch Aang before he could hit the ground; the boy barely did more than moan softly.

Hakoda blinked twice when he saw his daughter. Surely this could not be the girl he’d left in the Southern Water Tribe two years ago. No way could she have grown up that much. She’d gotten taller and more muscular. Her hair had gotten longer. She looked so much like Kya, it was almost like Hakoda was staring at the ghost of his wife.

“Katara,” he said as he stepped closer. The smile that had been growing on his face faded when he noticed how torn Katara’s clothes were, noticed the tear stains that marked her cheeks, noticed how gently she held the small body in her arms. “Are you alright? What happened?”

“I’m fine,” she snapped. When she looked at him, her eyes held no joy at seeing him again. Only a lingering sadness and fierce determination. “But Aang’s hurt, badly. I need bandages and fresh water.”

Hakoda stammered for a minute before being saved by Bato. His friend led Katara belowdecks before Hakoda could get a single coherent word out.

Sokka was the next person to come to his aid. “Don’t worry, Dad. She’s been through a lot the past couple days.”

“What happened to the little girl I left behind two years ago?” Hakoda asked himself as he watched Katara walk away with Bato.

“Believe me. Sometimes I wonder that, too.”


	2. Mental

In all the time she’d known him, Katara had never once thought that Aang would give up his glider, destroyed or not. She could have repaired it for him, or gotten him supplies so he could repair it himself. Of course, he had not done it willingly. Destroying the remains of the glider was essential in pulling off the elaborate lie that the Avatar was once again dead. Aang couldn’t very well carry his staff around the way he used to if he intended to stay hidden.

Still, that didn’t mean that burning the last relic from his nation was painless. When he jumped back down to the beach, he wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. Katara draped an arm around his shoulders to comfort him, and he leaned into the touch, tucking his face into her shoulder. It didn’t take long before Sokka and Toph were joining the hug.

Aang pulled away first, wiping the heel of his hand under his eye to erase a tear. “We should get moving.” His voice was rough, and he sounded like he was still fighting tears. “We can’t stay here forever.”

“No, we can’t!” Sokka said enthusiastically. He pulled a long schedule out of his bag and unrolled it so he could see what was coming up for the next couple days. “My dad and I worked out a schedule before we left to find you. We have to be at this island by the day of the invasion at the absolute latest. That doesn’t give us much time, considering where we are now.” He rolled the schedule back up and placed it in his bag. “Let’s head out. I’ll drive.” He climbed up to Appa’s head and waited for the others.

Toph shot herself up with an earth pillar, landing gracefully in the saddle and looping her arm through a hole in the wood. Before Katara had a chance to ask if Aang needed help getting up, he leapt into the air with a spin and landed beside Toph in the saddle. Katara blinked a couple times before climbing up to the saddle; she accepted Aang’s hand when he held it out to help pull her up, but didn’t miss how his other hand stayed wrapped around his middle toward his back.

“Alright, Team Avatar is back!” shouted Sokka. “Yip yip!” He flicked the reins and Appa leapt off into the air, four humans and a lemur on his back.

***

“So, what’s our next move?” asked Aang. The group had been flying for almost an hour, hidden in the clouds. For a while, Aang had been bending the clouds around them to keep them hidden, but was forced to stop when all three of his friends got sick of him pushing himself and Toph all but sat on him to keep him down so Katara could give him a healing session. 

Sokka, sitting at the front of Appa’s saddle, unrolled his master schedule. “Um…I’m not really sure. I guess we just travel around the Fire Nation the way we did when we were heading for the North Pole.”

“Yeah, great plan, Sokka.” If Toph had eyesight, she would definitely have rolled her eyes. “Need I remind you that if we’re discovered, we’ll have that crazy Fire Nation princess on our tail again? Not to mention if anyone finds out who Aang is, we’ll be shipped off to the Fire Lord in chains.”

“Real encouraging, Toph,” Aang deadpanned, then winced and hissed to Katara, “Go left a little.” She complied, careful to avoid the center of the wound; there was so much energy twisted up there that even she would get backlash when she tried to untangle it.

“Hey, I’m just being realistic.” Toph shrugged. “I doubt you wanna get shot full of lightning again after you just woke up.”

Aang flinched, despite the healing hands roaming his back. “No thank you. One brush with certain death is more than enough for me.”

Sokka opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a rumble of thunder. A huge storm was right in front of them, with no way around it in sight and nothing but water between them. “Oh no.”

“We can make it,” Katara declared. “I can make an umbrella out of the rain to keep it off of us until we find somewhere to land.”

“Is that a good idea?” Aang asked, lifting his arms a bit so Katara could rewrap his bandages. “Won’t it attract the lightning?”

“Aang, we’ll be fine,” said Sokka as he climbed back down to Appa’s head. “We won’t be in there very long. Just until we find somewhere to land and wait it out.”

Aang sighed. “I hate flying in storms.”

Katara’s eyes softened and she placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll be alright, Aang. I promise. We won’t let you get trapped in another iceberg.”

Toph snickered a little, and though Aang didn’t entirely share in her joy, he smiled a bit too.

***

Sokka lied. They didn’t find somewhere to land right away.

Katara managed to keep them all dry by bending a water dome above Appa, though the fierce wind constantly threatened to tear it apart. Toph clung to the saddle for dear life, as did Aang, who looked like he was seconds away from throwing up. Odd, he didn’t usually get airsick. He was an _Airbender._

“Sokka can you see anything?!” Katara yelled over the howling wind. She had one arm looped through a hole in the saddle so she wouldn’t fall into the sea.

“Nothing!” Sokka yelled back. “Just angry waves!”

“We can’t keep flying in this storm forever!” Toph shouted.

“Sokka, get us closer to the water!” Katara nearly lost the dome to another huge wind blast. She wondered if this is what it felt like to go up against Aang’s Airbending. “Maybe I can―”

Before Katara could finish, lightning struck the dome. All four kids screamed as the dome of rainwater evaporated and Appa made a steep dive toward sea level. Katara didn’t dare make another dome, so they were drenched in seconds, clinging to Appa for dear life as he flew like a rocket toward a dark spot that the kids could only hope was land.

At first, it sounded like the wind had picked up around them. But it wasn’t the wind. It was Aang, screaming like Katara had never heard him scream before. He’d thrown his arms over his head and curled in a tight ball in the back corner of Appa’s saddle. A bandage protecting a burn on his wrist had come loose from the rain and flapped in the wind. Katara tried to shout his name, but her voice was lost in the wind and the sound of his screams.

Aang always said that Appa hated being underground, but apparently he hated thunderstorms more. The bison flew into a large cave the moment it was in sight, protecting himself and his riders from the raging storm outside. Toph leapt down immediately, sighing in relief at being back on solid ground as she flopped onto her butt, sitting against the wall. Sokka slid down the side of Appa’s head to the ground. He squeezed the water out of his cloak and then his wolftail, then set about making them a fire.

As for Katara, she moved closer to Aang. He’d stopped screaming when they flew into the cave, but still kept his arms over his head and stayed curled in his ball. “Aang,” she said gently. She reached out a hand to touch him, but hesitated. She didn’t want to freak him out more than he already was. “Aang, it’s okay. We’re safe.”

Aang didn’t respond. His screams had been replaced by whimpers and sobs, tears mixing with the rainwater on his cheeks. His face was twisted as if he was in physical pain, his teeth clenched, his hands clutching at the short hair on his head. Katara was suddenly reminded of just how young Aang still was. He was just a twelve-year-old boy―no, _thirteen,_ Katara’s brain supplied. He’d turned thirteen about a week before he woke up from his coma; they’d held a small celebration on the ship to recognize him entering his teenage years. 

He was just a _thirteen_ -year-old boy, and he’d been through more than anyone else Katara knew.

“Aang.” Her voice was soft, the same voice she’d used on him so many times when he was hurting. This time, she didn’t hesitate to touch him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Look at me.” Her other hand lightly brushed against his cheek, turning his head a bit so he was facing her. “We’re alright. You’re alright.”

It took a minute, but he finally opened his eyes and looked at her. Terror turned instantly to relief, and he uncurled from his ball and released his grip on his hair. The tension left his shoulders and he seemed to physically deflate.

Katara smiled softly at him before bending the rainwater off of both of them and tossing it out the mouth of the cave. “Come on. Let’s go warm up by the fire.”

He nodded, and together they climbed down from Appa’s back (or, in Aang’s case, floated down). Aang huddled by the fire, fixing the bandage that had come loose on his wrist, while Katara bent the water out of everyone else’s clothes and threw it outside. Appa was more difficult, but she successfully dried him off too.

The kids sat around the fire in silence for a while before Aang finally broke it. “Would everybody stop staring at me?”

“We’re not staring, Aang,” said Katara. “We’re concerned. You’ve never freaked out like that before.”

“Yeah,” Sokka agreed. “We’ve flown in bad storms before, and most of them you led us through. What happened?”

Aang hugged his knees, shivering a little. “Azula happened.”

“You’re saying because she shot you, you’re afraid of lightning?” Toph didn’t mean to be rude, but the look Aang shot her made it obvious he felt the jab more than he should have.

Thankfully, Katara jumped in before things could get ugly. She draped an arm around Aang’s shoulders. “Aang, we understand. The memories are still fresh. It still hurts you. Even I still get nightmares about it. I’m positive it’ll fade as the memories do.”

Aang sighed, leaning into Katara’s embrace. His hand came up to grasp hers and he laid his head on her shoulder. The two of them stayed that way until all four kids fell asleep, Aang curled against Katara like a kitten against its mother.


	3. Emotional

Sokka scooted closer to Katara, whispering softly so the others couldn’t hear. “Is Aang okay?” He cast a glance over his shoulder at where the Airbender sat on Appa’s head with his arms around his knees.

Katara followed his gaze and sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know,” she whispered back.

“When we were leaving the bunker, I could have sworn he was fighting tears. Even Toph said she could feel how hard he was swallowing.”

“He was crying earlier, just before we left the soldiers behind.” Katara paused for a moment, thinking. “I’m gonna go talk to him.” She crawled across the saddle until she reached the front, then slowly climbed down to where Aang sat. “Hey.”

She didn’t miss how Aang’s hand wiped under his eyes, and how he avoided looking at her until after he’d finished. Even then, he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Hey. Are…you and Sokka okay? You just left your dad behind to get captured after not seeing him for two years.”

Typical Aang, always more concerned for others than himself. Though he could have chosen a less harsh way of putting it. She shook it off. “We’re alright. We’ll see him again. Right now I’m more concerned about you.”

Aang tensed a little, his eyes falling to his feet. “I’m fine.”

“Aang, don’t do this.”

He looked at her again, this time defensively. His walls were going up; she had to break through before he sealed her out completely. “What?”

“This.” She gestured to him. “Locking away your feelings like they don’t matter.”

“Katara, I’m the Avatar. My feelings don’t matter when it comes to saving the world.”

“Of course they matter!” Katara wasn’t sure whether to slap him or crush him in a hug. She doubted he’d appreciate either option. She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “Aang, do you remember when we were in the Serpent’s Pass after losing Appa? You were so upset that you became numb to every emotion. You weren’t even you anymore.” 

“You’ve said this before. Back at Fong’s base, when you were trying to get me to stop trying to trigger the Avatar State.”

“I know I have, but this is different. Ever since you found out what happened to the Airbenders, I’ve always thought that the scariest thing in the world was watching you suffer so much that you lose yourself to the Avatar State. But I was wrong. The scariest thing in the world is watching you suffer so much that you lose _yourself.”_

Aang swallowed hard, turning away from her again. “If I hadn’t blocked my chakra, I’d probably be in the Avatar State right now,” he mumbled. “I failed. Again.”

Katara almost said that she’s glad he blocked it, because the last thing they need is him on a spiritual rampage like in the desert or the Air Temple. But she thought better of it, coming to the conclusion that that would only make him feel worse. “You didn’t fail, Aang. You’ve never failed.”

“I abandoned my people and the rest of the world by running away. It’s my fault that the war’s been going on for so long. And then in Ba Sing Se…”

“Aang, what happened in Ba Sing Se was not your fault. _Azula_ did this to you.” She rested her hand on his back, over the place his scar was hidden beneath two layers of light fabric. 

Aang shivered involuntarily; the pain had long since passed, but memories would make it tingle and itch on occasion, like it was reminding him it was still there. 

“What I wouldn’t give to put Azula in her place,” Katara growled through her teeth. 

Aang paid the comment no mind. “If I had just stayed with Guru Pathik and completed my chakra―”

“Azula might have shot you anyway. And if you had come any later than you did, I wouldn’t have been able to save you.”

He looked at her. “What do you mean?”

Katara took a deep breath. “Before you and Iroh came, Zuko and I…we bonded in prison, over our terrible childhoods. I don’t know what came over me, I just…I wanted to help him. I almost used some of the water on his scar. If I had, I wouldn’t have had enough to save you. And I would have had to live with the knowledge that I let someone I love die to help the enemy.”

Aang stared at her through wide gray eyes. Katara had always liked his eyes, ever since the moment she met him. The rich gray was so different than the million shades of blue she’d grown up with. She always tried to find something else to compare the color to, something more Aang, but honestly, they reminded her of oncoming stormclouds. Which she supposed made sense, because Aang could become a raging storm in just about every sense of the word.

She placed a hand on his cheek. He was crying again; he didn’t seem to notice. “You mean so much more than the world to me. You know that, right? You’re not just the Avatar. You’re my friend.”

That did it. That was the final blow that brought down all of his walls. He collapsed into tears, and Katara pulled him close to her, letting him tuck in against her shoulder and cry out his pain. They clung to each other, each the other’s anchor against all the emotions that threatened to drown them. 

“I understand your guilt, Aang,” Katara whispered, swallowing back her own tears. She hated seeing Aang in any sort of pain. “I felt the same way after you were shot. For so long, you wouldn’t wake up. I was scared I was doing something wrong. I felt like I’d failed you.”

She felt his grip on her tighten, and she returned the gesture. Even if her feelings for Aang were mixed as all hell, one thing was certain. They needed each other, in every sense. They supported each other, they were each other’s source of strength when their own had run out. 

It was then that Katara admitted it to herself. Living in a world without the Avatar she could handle, however awful it had been. Living in a world without _Aang_ was something she would fight to her dying breath to prevent.


End file.
